something always brings me back to you
by Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs
Summary: She'd assumed he was dead.


A/N: So this is my first foray into writing fic for Star Trek/Discovery/KatGabriel/etc, but I marathoned the whole thing last weekend and immediately fell for Katrina and Gabriel and their relationship. I'm convinced prime!Gabriel is still alive in mirror verse, so this is just something about him coming home- short, and sweet-ish. For reference, Diana's faceclaim is Ming-Na Wen simply because I can. Title from Gravity by Sara Bareilles.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Diana.

* * *

She'd assumed he was dead.

If she's being perfectly honest, she simply hadn't allowed herself to believe he was still alive, in the mirror verse- she couldn't afford to. Not when she'd already lost so much; had so much taken from her. So even though she'd wanted to hope he could be alive- that he'd found a way to survive, even in such a hellish universe- she'd convinced herself he was dead.

But he's standing in front of her- thinner than she remembers, and older- but very much alive.

"Kat," Gabriel breathes, and something inside her begins to release, though she remains wary. He steps forward, hands outstretched, and the rest of the room melts away as he tugs her into a hug, the tension still tight in her spine. "Kat…Kat. _Katie._ "

It's the nickname- one that only Gabriel used, and only in the quietest, most intimate moments- that breaks down the barriers she'd sealed herself behind, and she presses her face into his neck, biting back tears that spring to her eyes.

"I never thought I'd see you again," she whispers, fingers digging into his back, feeling the stubble on his cheeks scratch at her temples as he folded himself around her. "Not- not _you_."

Gabriel pulls back at that, keeping her close, swallowing hard as he lifted a shaking hand to brush her hair from her face.

"She brought me home. She isn't like the Terrans," he assures her softly, and Katrina can't help but turn her gaze to the corner of the room, where her own face looks back at her.

It's surreal- to see herself, but not actually herself- staring back at her. The mirror verse's version of herself has longer hair, pulled back into a ponytail, with a scar over her left eyebrow. There are no Starfleet uniforms in that universe, and she's dressed in ragged canvas clothing, a bandana tied around her neck. She offers up a small half-smile.

"I didn't know my universe's Gabriel," she starts, shrugging one shoulder and shifting her stance. Katrina's heart squeezes at the thought, but the memory of the mirror verse's Lorca makes her believe that maybe it's better, to have been spared that in another universe. "But the way Gabriel talked about you- it was enough to know he needed to come home; needed to come back to you. And I needed to get out of the Terran Empire- even if it _is_ to jump straight into the middle of a war with the Klingons."

Katrina looks back at Gabriel, heart rising to her throat as his fingers find hers, squeezing gently. Blue eyes lay a raw soul bare to her, and she knows it will take time and healing and talking to fix what mirror!Lorca broke, but looking at him, looking at her the way he was- it was a homecoming she hadn't even realized she'd been waiting for.

"Did you have someone?" Katrina finally asks, wrenching her gaze from Gabriel's to look at the mirrored verse of herself; there's a pause, and the other woman nods, clearing her throat.

"I did. She got us here," she answers quietly, and Katrina's eyebrows knit together. "We were attacked getting here. Diana…knew she couldn't make it. She held them off, so we could make it here."

"I'm sorry. That you had to lose her," Katrina offers, and her mirror self inclines her head forward.

"I think I'll go find my room now," she says, lifting a hand when Katrina opens her mouth to offer help. "I'm capable of navigating a starship, Admiral."

She leaves them alone at that, and Gabriel pulls Katrina back into a hug, burying his face in her hair. Her arms band around his back, holding him against her.

"You're home," she whispers, unable to help the way she clutches him a little closer. One palm cups the back of his head, thumb finding the scar on the back of his neck from their academy days, a stupid stunt that had landed him in the hospital ward for a week and given him the nasty scar along the base of his skull. The gnarled skin calms her heart now; gives her peace. "You're home now."

His lips brush her collarbone gently, and Katrina lets her eyes sink shut, letting out a shuddering breath that she'd been holding since the moment she'd realized how long he'd truly been gone.


End file.
